Eric Cantor To Step Down As House Majority Leader

Hours after Congressman Eric Cantor announced he’s stepping down as House Majority Leader, some of Cantor’s fellow congressmen are speaking out about Tuesday’s stunning primary.

“I think Virginia made a huge mistake and they’re gonna regret it,” said Mississippi Republican congressman Steven Polazzo. “It’s a sad day. Sad day for the House… Sad day for America… but it’s gonna be a really sad day for Virginia.”

Virginia voters thought otherwise…electing Tea Party favorite Dave Brat as the Republican nominee for the Commonwealth’s seventh district seat. It’s a position Cantor has held since 2001.

“I know my team worked incredibly, incredibly hard,” said Congressman Eric Cantor. “They did a tremendous amount of work. I’m grateful for what they did and in the end the voters chose a different candidate.”

Even though he won’t be on the ballot in November, Cantor says he will be a champion for conservatives around the nation like he was for Virginians.

“Never was there a day that I did not put the constituents of the seventh district first,” said Cantor.

“This place will miss him terribly and I just gotta say to you when we have leaders like that, sometimes we don’t appreciate them till they’re gone,” said Arizona Republican Trent Franks.

Come the end of December, Cantor will leave political life…at least for now. He hasn’t said what he plans to do once he’s out of office.

“While I may have suffered a setback last night, I couldn’t be more optimistic about the future of this country,” said Cantor.